Cardiff

Cardiff, Welsh Caerdydd,
The stone keep of Cardiff Castle in Cardiff, Wales.Neil Beer/Corbiscity and capital of Wales. Cardiff constitutes a separate county borough, which is part of the historic county of Glamorgan (Morgannwg). Cardiff is located on the Bristol Channel at the mouth of the River Taff, about 150 miles (240 km) west of London.

The Romans built a small fort (c. 75 ce) there, where the Gloucester-Carmarthen road crossed the Taff, and strengthened it in the face of seaborne attacks from Ireland. The town began its continuous existence with the arrival of the Normans in the 11th century. The Norman landowner Robert FitzHamon built a fortification on the site of the Roman fort during his expedition of 1090–93 against the Welsh. By 1150 a stone keep was erected on the mound—one of the finest surviving examples of its type in the country. Outside the castle a small walled town grew up, and it benefited from the trading privileges in a series of charters granted by either the local lord or the crown (e.g., 1608, from James I). Cardiff acted as a market centre and small port for the coastal plain nearby. The castle and lordship came into the possession of Richard III and Henry VII and were granted to the Herbert family of South Wales, from whom they passed by marriage in 1766 to the earl (marquess since 1796) of Bute. The Bute family have greatly influenced the subsequent development of Cardiff. They renovated the turreted castle as a residence and gave land adjoining it for the creation of a Civic Centre in the early 20th century. Cardiff Castle itself and its attached parkland were given to Cardiff in 1947.

Cardiff’s expansion stemmed from the development of coal and iron ore mines around Merthyr Tydfil, to the north, beginning in the second half of the 18th century. In 1794 the Glamorganshire Canal opened between Merthyr Tydfil and Cardiff, and in 1798 the first dock was built at the canal’s Cardiff terminus. In 1801 Cardiff’s population was only 1,018, but the town developed rapidly and continuously over the next 100 years as an exporter of coal from South Wales. John, 2nd marquess of Bute (1793–1848), constructed a basin and dock at Cardiff that opened in 1839. The railways arrived soon thereafter and connected Cardiff with the industrial and mining hinterland. Additional docks were completed in 1859, and the developing iron industry in the hinterland brought more traffic to Cardiff, which was designated a city in 1905. Cardiff’s port was repeatedly expanded, and by 1913 Cardiff had become the largest coal-exporting port in the world.

Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff, Wales.Justin B. Ingram-Bruce Coleman Inc.In 1922 Cardiff’s area was expanded to include Llandaff, with its cathedral. The port’s coal trade fell off dramatically after 1918 and ceased altogether in 1963, but Cardiff remained the largest city in Wales. It was officially recognized as the capital of Wales in 1955. Cardiff is the most important administrative, shopping, and cultural centre in the country, as well as the headquarters for many national organizations and government departments. It is also an important industrial centre—mainly for food processing, engineering, and other light industries—and a hub for commerce and other services.

Cardiff has many notable buildings, though few historic ones (the main exceptions being the castle, Llandaff Cathedral, and the medieval parish church of St. John). The Civic Centre in Cathays Park is a fine set of public buildings, built since 1904, mostly in portland stone, and set among ornamental gardens and broad avenues. Also noteworthy are the city hall, the law courts, the National Museum of Art (with one of the largest collections of Impressionist paintings outside Paris), the Welsh National War Memorial, and the University of Wales, Cardiff, which was created when University College Cardiff and the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology merged in 1988. The docklands of the former port were renovated during the 1990s. New developments along the waterfront include Techniquest, an interactive science museum, and the Millennium Centre, an exhibition and performance space that opened in 2004. The Museum of Welsh Life occupies the grounds of St. Fagan’s Castle, 4.5 miles (7 km) west of the city centre, and the new Millennium Stadium has one of the world’s largest retractable roofs. The city’s airport is at Rhoose, 12 miles west. Area unitary authority, 54 square miles (139 square km). Pop. (2001) city, 292,150; unitary authority, 305,353; (2011) city, 335,145; unitary authority, 346,090.